Thread control for axminster needle motion



o. v. PAYNE Dec. 8, 1942.

THREAD CONTROL FOE AXMINSTER NEEDLE MOTION Original Filed Feb. 8, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l w \\\\\\\\\\\\il w INVENTOE.

Oscmav. PAY NE r ATTORNEY THREAD CONTROL FOR AXMINSTER NEEDLE MOTIOfi Original Filed Feb. 8, 1941 3,Sheets$heet 2 I :t-"II: 4

INVE-NTOE I OscAR' \l. PAYNE ATTORJQEY FIG-"1E Dec. 8, 1942. o v PAYNE, 7 2,304,195

THREAD CONTROL FOR AXMINSTER NEEDLE MOTION Original Filed Feb. 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 M O N XNVEN-roR Oscan V. PAYNE.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1942 THREAD CONTROL FOR AXMINSTER NEEDLE MOTION Oscar V. Payne, Leicester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Original. application February 8, 1941, Serial No.

378, 041. Divided and this application Septemher 8, 1941, Serial No. 409,926

9 Claims.

This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 378,041, filed February 8, 1941, Patent No. 2, 258,193.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide an Axminster needle operating mechanism including stationary and movable sheaves and a needle driving cable trained around them, and wherein provision is made for consuming more time to reverse the needle when it is out of the shed than when it is in the shed, thereby providing time for the beat-up and clipping of the tube frame.

In the cycle of AXminster loom operations the needle must be out of the shed long enough to permit clipping of the tube frame and also beatup of the weft laid by the needle. It has been common practice heretofore to use intermittently operating needle driving mechanism which holds the needle stationary during the tube frame dipping and beating up operations, but a continuously moving needle actuator continues to move during the time that the needle is out of the shed and some provision must be made to permit this motion without inserting the needle into the shed.

It is an important object of my present invention to employ a continuously moving actuator for the needle connected to the latter by a train of mechanism which includes means for moving the needle at a relatively slow rate when it is out of the shed, such for instance as planetary gearing which produces a very slow reversal of the movable sheaves when the needle is fully retracted from the shed.

Axminster looms customarily employ a selvage shuttle at the side cf the loom opposite the needle operating mechanism the purpose of which is to interloop a selvage thread with the double pick of weft laid by the needle when the latter is completely in the shed. The slow reversal of the needle when it is out of the warp shed is compensated for by a quick reversal of the needle when it is in position to cooperate with the selvage shuttle. t is a further object of my present invention to correlate the selvage operating mechanism with the planetary gearing so that the selvage shuttle will have an operating weft looping stroke when the planetary gearing mechanism has completed the movement of the movable sheaves which inserts the needle into vthe shed.

As the needle moves into the shed in the usual Axminster loom its weft travels from the stationary package through stationary guides to and through the needle eye. The weft is required to unwind and to move through guides at approximately twice the rate of the needle motion. When a planetary gearing mechanism is employed there are times when the needle travels faster than heretofore, which would result in an increase in the rate of travel of the weft if former weft controls were used. It is a further object of my present invention to mount an additional guide eye for the weft on the needle near its outer end and lead the weft from the stationary package to the additional eye in such a direction that the amount of yarn drawn from the package during a needle inserting motion will not be substantially longer than the length of the needle. In this way the rate of weft unwinding and movement through the guides is greatly reduced relatively to the needle rate and the latter can be increased by the planetary gearing without subjecting the weft to strains proportional to the faster motion of the needle. This feature of my present invention is not necessarily limited to the particular type of needle operating mechanism set forth hereinafter, but is particularly useful when planetary gearing is used to drive the needle.

It is a further object of my present inventionso to control the weft yarn which leads from the stationary package to the delivery eye of the needle that part, such as half, of a double pick is unwound during the needle inserting stroke, while the remainder, or other half, is unwound as the needle moves out of the shed. By this arrangement both the inserting and the retracting strokes of the needle are used to unwind weft and the unwinding becomes substantially continuous instead of intermittent, as heretofore. In this connection I lead the weft obliquely to the additional eye on the needle and in such a direction that the slackness in the weft due to needle motion is more than taken up by the weft which the needle carries into the shed, hence there is a continuous unwinding throughout the needle motion and the weft is always kept taut.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of my needle mechanism arranged at the right hand side of a loom with the needle in the warp shed.

Fig. 2 is a plan view in the direction of arrow 2,v Fig. .1, showing not only the needle but certain parts of the loom at the left of the needle mechanism and including the selvage shuttle,

Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig 2, showing the tube frame and certain other mechanisms commonly found in Axminster looms, parts being in section,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view looking in the direction of arrow 4, Fig. 2, showing the mechanism for operating the selvage shuttle,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed front elevation of part of the planetary gearing mechanism shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 66 of Fig. 5,

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views showing the manner in which the weft thread is supplied in the preferred form of weft control.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing a modified form of weft control,

Fig. 11 is an enlarged diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 10 showing the relationship which causes the weft to remain taut throughout substantially the whole needle stroke, and

Fig. 12 is an enlarged detail plan view in the direction of arrow 12, Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, particularly Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown the frame II] of an Axminster loom having a cloth board I over which the woven fabric F moves from the point of tuft formation to a wind-up roll not shown. The binder warp threads B extend rearwardly from the cloth board through a reed R mounted on a backwardly and forwardly reciprocating lay L. Harness frames H behind the lay shift vertically to divide the warp threads into top and bottom sheds S and S, respectively. The weft needle N is attached at its right end as seen in Fig. 2 to a needle carriage l2 which slides along a stationary needle rail 13 sufficiently long to accommodate the motion of the needle into and out of the warp shed.

The loom has a set of tube frames T three of which are shown in Fig. 3. These tube frames are moved successively to a delivery point under a pullover shaft 23 by two transporting chains one of which is shown at 24. The tube frame in delivery position is temporarily disconnected from the chains and lowered to tuft forming position by arms 25. The tuft yarns Y are projected downwardly through the warp sheds as shown in Fig. 3 to positions between the cloth board and the needle. The needle then lays a shot of weft in the shed behind the tuft yarns and is retracted, after which the reed beats up to force the weft and yarn tufts over the hooks 26 on the I cloth board I I to a position in front of the hooks, The tube frame is then raised to draw off enough yarn for the next row of tufts while the reed is held forward to prevent tuft slippage, and theharness frames shift to form a new shed. The

front and back knives 2! and 28, respectively,

then approach each other during the ensuing backward motion of the reed and start to cut at the left end of the loom as soon as the reed has moved far enough rearwardly to clear the back knife. Shortly thereafter the reed is back far enough to permit entry of the needle into the new shed while the knives are still cutting the yarns Y, and the cutting ordinarily continues until the needle is entirely in the shed.

As the needle moves out of the shed the reed starts forward again, cutting having been completed. and the rear knife having moved back far enough to clear the advancing reed. The needle moves into and out of each warp shed link 64 pivoted at 65 to a fixed support.

and has a complete reciprocation for each backward stroke of the lay while the warp threads are spread apart to form a shed, and the harnesses form a new shed for each reciprocation of the needle.

The matter thus far described isof common construction and may be constructed and operated as is customary in Axminster looms.

The loom to which my invention is applied has extending therefrom a floor plate 30 on which is supported an end frame 3! secured to the loom frame. Fastened to the end frame is an upright bracket 32 to which the inner end of the needle rail I3 is secured. The rail includes top and bottom bars 33 and 34, respectively, between which slides a guide shoe 3'! on the needle carriage. The right end of the needle rail as seen in Figs. 1 and 2 is secured to a second bracket 38 mounted on a post 39 supported by the floor. The needle rail is thus held in fixed position with respect to the loom so that the needle may be guided along a path in front of the reed when moving into and out of the warp shed. The needle rail and its mounting may be of the usual construction but is part of a frame which supports the sheaves as will be pointed out hereinafter.

In carrying my invention into effect I provide a cable preferably in two sections and having its ends fixed and trained around two sets of movable pulleys located between two sets of stationary pulleys, one of the latter sets at each end of the needle rail. The needle carriage I2 is attached approximately at its mid point to the cable and is caused to slide along the rail when the movable pulleys are actuated by driving mechanism including such mechanism as planetary gearing now to be described to move the needle slowly when it is out of the shed.

The loom has a driving shaft 40 which preferably though not necessarily rotates at uniform speed and will in a three-shot Axminster loom make one revolution for every three beats of the lay. Secured to'the right end of the shaft 49 as shown in Fig. 1 is a relatively large bevel gear 4| which meshes with a smaller bevel gear 42 of onethird its size and mounted on a cross shaft 43. The latter is supported by a bearing 44 secured to the end plate 3! and extends forwardly to have keyed thereto a radius arm 45. The bearing 44 has secured thereto a solar gear 45 which meshes with a planetary gear 4'! keyed to a stud 48 rotatable in a ball bearing 49 or the like mounted on the radius arm 45. Fixed to the stud 48 is an eccentric 50 around which extends an eccentric strap secured to a driving arm 52. The angular position of the eccentric with respect to the stud 48 and planet gear may be Varied by means of a nut 53 threaded on the stud and tightened to clamp the eccentric in adjusted position on the stud, as shown in Fig. 6.

The driving arm 52 is pivoted on a stud 55 carried by an actuating lever 56 the upper end of which has fixed thereto a transversely ex-- tending stud 51. A horn 58 on the end plate 3| is pivoted at 59 to a depending link 60 which is also pivoted on the stud 55, and the stud 51 and pivot 59 are preferably equi-distant from stud 55. By means of the bolt and slot cannection indicated at 6| in Fig. 1 the lower end of the actuator lever is adjustably connected to a foot 62 movable to. a plurality of positions at different distances from the stud 55 and the lower end of the shoe is pivoted as at 63 to a The actuating lever 56 is therefore floated on links 60 and 64 as it is moved to the right and left as viewed in Fig. 1 during the operation of the mechanism, and stud 51 moves in a substantially horizontal line.

As shown in the present instance the stud 51 has mounted thereon six sheaves or pulleys three of which, indicated at 67, 68 and 69 are in front of lever 56, while the other three indicated at 10, II and I2 are behind said lever. A plate I5 rigid with bracket 33 is provided with two rods I6 and TI adjustable thereon in a direction parallel to the needle rail and having mounted on their left ends fixed pulleys I8 and T9, respectively. A third rod 80 also secured to the plate I5 is adjustable thereon toward and from the center of the loom, while an extension III of the bracket 38 has rotatably mounted thereon another stationary pulley 82.

Near the inner or left end of the needle rail as viewed in Fig. 2, the bracket 32 is provided with a plate 85 in which are adjustably mounted two rods 86 and 81 similar to rods I6 and TI and having mounted on their right ends stationary pulleys 88 and 89, respectively. A third fixed pulley 90 similar to pulley 82 is mounted on the bracket 32, while a rod BI somewhat similar to rod 80 extends through the plate 85 and has a collar 92 thereon between which and the plate 85 is located a compression spring 95 acting to move the rod 9| away from the actuator lever 56;

The operating cable C already referred to is preferably made in two sections I99 and IIJI which are attached to and extend to the right and the left respectively from the needle carriage I2. The cable section I is fastened to the needle carriage as at I92 and is trained successively around pulleys 82, II, 19, Ill, 18, 6'! and then extends to rod 89 and is connected thereto at I93. The cable section IIlI is attached to the needle carriage at I and is trained successively around pulleys 90, I2, 89, 59, 88, 68 and then extends to rod 91 to be fastened to it at I05. The spring 93 serves to keep the cable taut and, although shown herein, is described more particularly and claimed in my Patent No. 2,258,192.

In the operation of the mechanism just described shaft 49 will preferably though not necessarily rotate at a uniform rate and will cause arm 45 to rotate in the direction of arrow a, Figs. 1 and 5, thus moving the planet gear 41 around the solar gear 46 to cause rotation of the eccentric 59 around the axis of stud 48. The efiect of this rotation of the eccentric is to reciprocate connector 52 and actuator lever 55 to cause reciprocation of the movable pulleys to move the needle into and out of the warp shed. The character of this motion is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5, from which it will be seen that a considerable retardation is produced in the motion of lever 56 when the latter is in that part of its sweep which moves the needle out of the warp shed. The dot and dash light line b represents the circular path of stud 48 and the center of the planet gear, while the heavy dot and dash line 0 represents the path traversed by the center of eccentric 5B and strap 5l. Since the strap and connector 52 are attached to the lever 55 the movement of the latter is represented by the heavy dot and dash line 0, and from Fig. 5 it will be seen that a considerable amount of angular motion on the part of shaft 43 produces a very small motion of 'lever 56 and'the movable pulleys when the latter are to the left or in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 corresponding to the posi-- tion of the needle when the latter is out of the warp shed. The retardation thus produced in the motion of the needle when the latter is out of the shed affords time for the operation of other parts of the loom without interfering with the needle, such for instance, as the lay and tube frame. There is necessarily a corresponding rapid motion of the lever 56 and the needle when the movable pulleys are to the right, as rep resented by the greater curvature in the right hand part of line 0, Fig. 5, and corresponding to the position of the needle when fully inserted into the shed.

The planetary gear drive described herein is an improvement over the mechanism shown in my Patents Nos. 2,258,191 and 2,258,192 to which reference may be had for further details of the mechanism set forth herein.

The needle lays a double pick of weft and provision must be made for looping this weft to form a selvazge when the needle is fully inserted into the shed. For this purpose I employ the selvage mechanism which may be constructed as set forth more particularly in Figs. 2 and i. The driving shaft 49 extends across the loom 'and has secured thereto at the end of the loom,

opposite the needle operating mechanism a cam plate I29 having three cam points I2I which cooperate with a lever I22 pivoted at [23' with respect to the loom frame. The lower part of lever 122 has an arm I24 which is held in position for periodic engagement with the cam points In by a spring I25.

The upper end of lever I22 is attached by means of a connector 25 to an arm I21 mounted on 'a vertical shaft I29 journaled for oscillation in the loom frame. A second arm I29 secured to shaft I28 extends toward a shuttle race I 30 and has driving contact with a selvage shuttle I3! suppli d with a selvage forming yarn W.

During loom operation shaft 40 makes one complete rotation every third beat of the loom, but the lever I22 is oscillated for each beat of the loom by one or another of the points I2 I, and the latter are so spaced and also held in such position relatively to the shaft iIJ by means ofbolts I 32 as to cause lever 522 to move the selvage shuttle in one direcion through the loop of weft when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, and then reverse the shuttle direction after the needle has started back, thus binding the weft loop to the selvage. This time relation is insured by reason of the fact that shaft 4!! drives both the selvage shuttle actuating mechanism the stud shaft 54 which operates the actuator lever 56 and the movable pulleys through the planetary gearing. As already explained, the retarding of the needle motion when the latter is out of the shed is compensated for by a relatively quick reversal of the needle when the same is in the shed and the necessity for being able to time the selvage shuttle accurately with respect to the needle is due to the fact that the planetary gearing gives the needle a quicker reversing motion than usual when it is in the shed.

From the matter thus far described it will be understood that the selvage shuttle operating mechanism and also the gearing used to drive the movable pulleys are both connected to the driving shaft of the loom, and the planetary gearing is set in such a way that the movable sheaves are moved to their extreme right handposition to place the needle fully in the shed at the same time that the selvage shuttle has its selvage looping movement.

As already stated, the planetary gearing mechanism operates in such a way as to cause a relatively rapid motion of the needle when it is in the shed, and in order that the weft may not be subjected to excessive strains while the needle is moving rapidly in the shed I provide a set of thread guides shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and set forth diagrammatically in Figs. '7 to 11.

Referring particularly to Figs. 7, 8 and 9, which show the preferred form of weft control, the package of weft P may be located near the right hand side of the warp and close to the needle. The weft leads from the package P througha stationary guide eye 290 and then extends rearwardly through a second guide eye and then forwardly to an additional or auxiliary guide eye 262 which is mounted on the needle carriage and moves back and forth therewith. From the eye 202 the yarn extends along the needle to the usual delivery eye 202 at the point of the needle and thence to the adjacent selvage.

As shown in Fig. '7 that part of the weft which lies between the guide 2am and eye 203 is divided into three substantially equal lengths which form a triangle. The length e extends between guides 200 and 20!, length 1 extends between guides 2lll and 202, while length g extends along the needle between the eyes 202 and 223 and becomes the first half of the double pick to be laid by the needle. When the needle moves into the shed to ward the position shown in Fig. 8 the length of weft 9 passes through the delivery eye 293 and lies in front of the needle and the length 1 passes through the eye 282 and extends along and behind the needle to become the second half of the double pick. The length 6 passes through guide 20l while a new length It is unwound from the package and drawn through guide 200 to lie between the latter and guide 20!. During the insertion of the needle therefore it is necessary to unwind and draw through guide 200 only the length it which is substantially the length of the needle, or approximately one half a double pick. Similarly, the length of yarn drawn through any of the guides is not substantially greater than the length of one half a double pick.

After the selvage shuttle has operated the needle moves back out of the shed toward the retracted position shown in Fig. 9, and in doing so section e will pass through the movable eye 202 and extend along the needle to the delivery eye to become later the first half of the next double pick, the section h will pass through the guide 29! and extend to the eye 202, while a new length 70 will be unwound and pass through the guide 290 toward guide 20!. Here again, half of a double pick is unwound by the outward stroke of the needle. From this it will be seen that each stroke the needle unwinds a length of weft equal substantially to one-half a double pick, a complete reciprocation providing the yarn for a double pick. It is apparent also that the weft unwinds and travels through the guides between the package and the needle at a rate not substantially different from the rate of motion of the needle. Heretofore, the rate of unwinding and movement through the guides has been double the rate of the needle. The planetary gearing mechanism can therefore give an accelerated motion to the needle while it is in the shed Without subjecting the weft to a correspondingly increased strain. As a matter of fact the weft in my invention unwinds and passes through the guides 200 and 20l at a slower rate than in the usual loom despite the increased needle rate due to the planetary gearing. The weft need not be as strong as required heretofore and its cost will beless than formerly.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 10 the package P' is located rearwardly of the needle near a receiving guide eye 2"! and a length of weft m leads from this guide to the movable eye 202 on the needle, and a second length 11 extends along the needle to the delivery eye 203. From the detailed description given of the preferred form of the invention it is believed that the operation of the modified form will be apparent.

In both the modified and the preferred forms of weft control it is important to locate the guide eyes 20I and 2| 0 in such a position that the yarn extending between it and the auxiliary guide eye on the needle shall be of substantially the same length as half a double pick. While this relationship is not absolutely necessary, I find it convenient to locate these two guide eyes 2M and 2H] substantially as shown in the drawings, that is, at one angle of an equilateral triangle the base of which is the distance between the eyes moving with the needle when the latter is fully retracted from the shed.

While I have shown the weft in Figs. 7 to 10 disposed along the sides of a substantially equilateral triangle I do not wish necessarily to be limited to such an arrangement, inasmuch as part of the advantage of my present invention can be attained without necessarily locating the guides 20l or 2E0 at the vertex of an equilateral triangle. It is desirable however that the weft shall approach the guide which moves with the needle in a direction oblique with respect to the needle and at any acute angle thereto. Thus it will be suflicient if a normal drop from these guides to the needle when the latter is fully out of the shed passes between the thread delivery eye and the guide 202 on the needle carriage. This part of my invention is susceptible of considerable variation as to the location of the guides 2M and 2H) without sacrificing the advantage of being able to draw off part of the double pick when the needle is moving into the shed or drawing off the remainder of the double pick as the needle moves out of the shed.

The weft guides shown diagrammatically in Figs. 7 to 11 are set forth structurally in Figs. 2 and 12. The package of weft in the preferred form is carried'by a support 220 mounted on the loom frame while the guide eye 20!! of the preferred form is supported by an arm 22l on the part 220. The guides 20! and 2H) may be supported on a small stand 222 fixed with respect to the loom frame, while the auxiliary guide on the outer end of the needle in actual practice comprises two guides one of which 223 extends upwardly from the needle carriage to a point above the needle rail so that the yarn may pass forwardly over the rail. The second guide eye 224 on the needle rail extends forwardly and is substantially in horizontal alignment with the needle. The guide 225 on the needle rail as seen in Fig. 12 holds the yarn forwardly out of entangling relationship with respect to the needle, but is not shown in the diagrammatic views since it does not materially effect the geometry of the weft feed.

Another important feature grows out of the osition of the guides 20! and 2H) and is illustrated in Fig. 11'. When the needle starts into the shed from the position shown for instance in Fig. 7 the auxiliary eye 202 travels along a path which gets nearer and nearer the guide 2M until the needle has moved approximately half way into the shed, thereby tending to cause a slackness in the weft due to the fact that the distance between the guide 2M and the auxiliary eye is less than the length 1. In Fig. 11 the are q passing through the auxiliary eye and having the eye 2M as a center falls below the needle by dis.- tances which increase until the needle is half way into the shed. It will be apparent in Fig. 11, however, that the distance between the selvage and the delivery eye after the needle is moved into the shed is greater than the radial distance between the auxiliary eye and the are q for the corresponding position of the auxiliary eye, and this relation requires that more weft be provided than can be supplied by the shortening of the distance between guide 29% and the auxiliary eye. There is a resultant unwinding of weft which tends to keep it taut, and no actual slackness occurs. After the needle passes its half way point the distance between the are q and the needle diminishes relatively to the continued motion of the needle into the shed and weft must therefore continue to be unwound. Because of the location of the guides 28! and Zlfi I am enabled not only to unwind but one-half of a double pick on the needle inserting stroke and therefore lessen the rate of unwinding, but I also prevent the occurrence of any objectionable slackness in the thread.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided an Axminster needle operating mechanism including a cable trained around stationary and movable pulleys wherein the latter are operated .by planetary gearing the effect of which is to retard the movement of the needle when it is out of the shed. It will also be seen that the planetary gearing is connected to the same shaft which operates the selvageshuttleand is so timed as to move the movable sheaves to that extreme of their stroke which corresponds to the full insertion of the needle into theshed and its rapid reversal when .the selvage .shuttle operates. It will further be seen that the weft is led to the needle in such a way .as to reduce the rate of feed of the weft through the delivery eye .compared with previous weft control systems in Axminster looms. This reduction in the rate at which the weft passes through the needle eye is accomplished by an arrangement which unwinds part of the double pick when the needle is inserted into the shuttle and draws off the other part while the needle is being retracted from the shed. This result may conveniently be accomplished by placing an auxiliary or additional weft eye at the outer end of the needle to cause the thread to extend along the needle and the advantage is further contributed .to by the fact'that the eyes 201 and Zlil are located soas .to be positioned substantially as already described. iWhile I have shown ,two methods of controlling the weft in the diagrammatic Figs. '7 to 12 I do not wish necessarily to be limited to these forms, since the eyes Zill and :2 U! need not necessarily be stationary nor is it necessary in all the forms of my invention to have them substantially equidistant from the eyes 202 and 203. Furthermore, there is no objectionable slackness .of the weft during the needle inserting stroke.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may :be I

made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but What I claim is:

I. In an Axminster loom having an elongated needle at one side thereof to be inserted into, and retracted from the warp shed, said needle having a thread delivery eye in the end thereof adjacent the warp shed, a stationary package of weft for the needle, a system of thread guides between the package and the thread delivery eye to cause the weft to extend along the needle ior a distance equal substantially to the length of the needle and in a direction away from the thread deft/cry ye with respect to' the warp shed to a gui e movable with the needle and then extend toward the center of the loom at an angle of substantially 60 with respect to the needle to a second guide spaced from the first named guide by a distance equal substantially to the length of the needle when the latter is out of the he 2. an Axrninster loom having an elongated needle at one side thereof to be inserted into and retracted from the warp shed, said needle having a thread delivery eye in the end thereof adjacent the warp shed, a stationary package of Weft for the needle, and a system of thread guides i'or the thread betweenthe package of weft and the t a d v n; Said tem havi g a thread guide which moves With the needle and is located at a point remote from the thread delivery eye with respect tothe warp shed. said sy tem ha in snide ia n pac ag th delivery e e an snides'br the system l n ubstanti l-1y a r s of an equilateral-t H ngle when the needle is out of the 3. an Axminster loom having an elongated nee i a ne ide t ere @01 t d into a retra ted from the Wa fin s n s n n a hr ad del e y e elid th em thereof nia en the War she a stet n l 6f Weft fo th ne dle a s e bf h d time betw en, the stationary na sn nnn th thread del er .Q th need e an n d ae rl ad ac nt the ea nes a amgifide'mevable with-the needle, saidguides being located that a the n edl nqve iron; n si etr c ed n; the shed to n nqsit o 1 Q v" sert n nt th W r hed h space "Heme n said eninla wil n ninnn' we a given" ('11s; tan n du in h first pa 9 the in f Tof lie nee l and the in rease to said given iiitafic as tneneen e completes ts ntiq i the; 'n o t at th in anc between a eiii w l n sub ta ial hnsamewne nertn handle in 611% o .q iul v he $11Q1- w a ann nn nste .lo xnharin .n We n e to be inserted into and r trac e om a w h shed. a needle es seem d to t "nn and monnte lfnr ins rnqti n t wa and di t war .sn n an. end .PLIHWS rot tab a f fixed axes, movable pulleyslocated between the s ac d pull y a cabl havin an inte me a pa thereo atta .nd to 1 h .ne.e .ec r ee and ha in on par inh rent ext nn gf tn the n ed ca iasea nns on o t s ce pulls an nn the movabl u ey and ha he othe pa t there exte di r m he ca ria around h eth r o e Spaced p i i and an ther ,o the mova p ll s. me t hold theends of the cable remote from the needle carriage relatively fixed with respect to each other,.a continuously v:rnoving actuator, a system of planetary gearing connected to the actuator and to the movable pulleys to reciprocate the latter and effect a relatively slow reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is out of the shed and effect a relatively rapid reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, said needle having a delivery thread eye at the end thereof which enters the warp shed and through which the weft passes, guide means for the weft moving with the needle adjacent the opposite end thereof with respect to the eye to cause a portion of the weft to extend along the needle, and a second guide means for the weft spaced from the needle and so located that a line drawn perpendicularly from said second guide means to the axis of the needle will pass substantially midway between the positions the first guide means occupies when the needle is fully in and fully retracted from the shed, the weft extending from the second named guide means to the first named guide means and then extending along the needle to pass through the eye and be attached to the adjacent selvage.

5. In an Axminster loom having a weft needle to be inserted into and retracted from a warp shed, a needle carriage secured to the needle and mounted for sliding motion toward and from the warp shed, spaced pulleys rotatable about fixed axes, movable pulleys located between the spaced pulleys, a cable having an intermediate part thereof attached to the needle carriage and having one part thereof extending from the needle carriage around one of the spaced pulleys and one of the movable pulleys and having the other part thereof extending from the needle carriage around the other of the spaced pulleys and another of the movable pulleys, means to hold the ends of the cable remote from the needle carriage relatively fixed with respect to each other, a continuously moving actuator, a system of planetary gearing connected to the actuator and the movable pulleys to reciprocate the latter and effect a relatively slow reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is out of the shed and a relatively rapid reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, a stationary package of weft for the needle, thread guide means for the weft spaced from the needle, a second thread guide means movable with the needle and located adjacent to that end of the needle remote from the warp shed, the second guide means being substantially the same distance from the first guide means whether the needle is fully inserted into or fully retracted from the shed and the needle having a thread delivery eye, the weft passing from the package through the first-named guide and through said second guide and then along the needle and through the delivery thread eye of the latter to be attached to the selvage.

6. In an Axminster loom having a weft needle to be inserted into and retracted from a warp shed, a needle carriage secured to the needle and mounted for movement toward and from the warp shed, spaced pulleys rotatable about fixed axes, movable pulleys located between the spaced pulleys, a cable having an intermediate part thereof attached to the needle carriage and having one part thereof extending {from the needle carriage around one of the spaced pulleys and one of the movable pulleys and having the cate the latter and effect a relatively slow re-,

versal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is out of the shed and a relatively rapid reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, the needle having a thread delivery eye in that end which enters the warp shed, thread guide means moving with the needle and located at a distance from the warp shed greater than the distance between the warp shed and said delivery eye, a stationary package of weft for the needle, a second thread guide means between the package and first named guide means and located laterally of the needle in such position that the distance between said first and second guide means when the needle is fully retracted from the shed is substantially the same as the distance between them when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, the weft extending from the package through said thread guides and along the needle to be attached to the selvage.

'7. In an Axminster loom having a weft needle to be inserted into and retracted from a warp shed, a needle carriage secured to the needle and mounted for sliding motion toward and from the warp shed, spaced pulleys rotatable about fixed axes, movable pulleys located between the spaced pulleys, a cable having an intermediate part thereof attached to the needle carriage and having one part thereof extending from the needle carriage around one of the spaced pulleys and one of the movable pulleys and having another part thereof extending from the needle carriage around the other of the spaced pulleys and another of the movable pulleys, means to hold the ends of the cable remote from the needle carriage relatively fixed with respect to each other, a continuously moving actuator, a system of planetary gearing connected to the actuator and the movable pulleys to reciprocate the latter and effect a relatively slow reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is out of the shed and effect a relatively rapid reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, the needle having a thread delivery eye in that end which enters the warp shed, thread guide means moving with the needle and located at a distance from the warp shed greater than the distance between the warp shed and said delivery eye, a stationary package of weft for the needle, a second thread guide means between the package and the first named guide means, the weft extending from the package through both of said thread guide means and along the needle to be attached to the selvage, said thread guides and delivery eye being so spaced as to lie substantially at the corners of an equilateral triangle.

8. In an Axminster loom having a weft needle to be inserted into and retracted from a warp shed, a needl carriage secured to the needle and mounted for sliding motion toward and from the warp shed, spaced pulleys rotatable about fixed axes, movable pulleys located between the spaced pulleys, a cable having an intermediate part thereof attached to the needle carriage and having one part thereof extending from the needle carriage around one of the spaced pulleys and one of the movable pulleys and having another part thereof extending from the needle carriage around the other of the spaced pulleys and another of the movable pulleys, means to hold the ends of the cable remote from the needle carriage relatively fixed with respect to each other, a continuously moving actuator, a system of planetary gearing connected to the actuator and the movable pulleys to reciprocate the latter and effect a relatively slow reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is out of the shed and effect a relatively rapid reversal in the direction of motion of the needle carriage when the needle is fully inserted into the shed, the needle having a thread delivery eye in that end which enters the warp shed, thread guide means moving with the needle and located at a distance from the warp shed greater than the distance between the warp shed and said delivery eye, a stationary package of weft for the needle, a second thread guide means between the package and the first named guide means, the weft extending from the package through both of said thread guides and along the needle to be attached to the selvage, the distance between said second thread guide means and the needle when the latter is out of the shed being not substantially less than half the distance between the delivery eye and the first named guide means, and said second named guide means being substantially equidistant from the delivery eye andthe first namedguide means when the needle is out of the shed.

9. In an Axminster loom having an elongated needle at one side thereof to be inserted into and retracted from the Warp shed, said needle having a thread delivery ey in the end thereof adjacent the warp shed, a stationary package of weft for the needle, a system of thread guides between the package and the thread delivery eye, said system including a guide movable with the needle and spaced from the thread delivery eye of said needle and including also a stationary second guide which receives the weft from the package, said second guide being so located that a line therefrom perpendicular to the needle when the latter is fully retracted from the shed will cross the needle at a point substantially midway between the ends of the path traversed by the guide which is movable with the needle so that the distance between said guides will be substantially the same whether the needle is fully retracted from or fully inserted into the warp shed.

OSCAR V. PAYNE. 

